Woman arrested again at LAX trying to sneak on plane

Aug. 7, 2014
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This March 2014 photo released by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office shows Marilyn Hartman. Federal law enforcement officials say Hartman tried at least three times to breach airport security before she was able to get through a checkpoint without a boarding pass at Mineta San Jose International Airport on Monday. / AP

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

A homeless San Francisco woman released from jail Wednesday for stowing away on a flight from San Jose to Los Angeles was rearrested Thursday at LAX while trying to sneak aboard another flight, authorities said.

Marilyn Hartman, 62, described as a serial stowaway, was detained at 11:15 a.m near Terminal 7, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman said. The terminal handles flights from United Airlines, United Express and TED Airlines.

No other details were immediately released.

She was arrested lessa than 24 hours after she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of trespassing and was ordered to stay away from Los Angeles International Airport. She was also placed on 24 months' probation.

Personnel did not discover she did not have a ticket until the plane landed.

The breach was the second this year at the San Jose airport and has prompted a review of security. In May, a teenage boy climbed into the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines and miraculously survived the five-hour flight to Maui.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that Hartman had tried seven times to board a plane at San Francisco International Airport before heading down Highway 101 to San Jose. She had already been banned from the airport for trying to illegally board flights.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Hartman blamed her escapades on being homeless, regretted what she had done and vowed not to stowaway again.

"I've been in some pretty awful situations so I took desperate measures," she said.

"I am an American first and foremost. I believe very strongly in the security of this country, and so in that regard that was very stupid. I certainly have no idea or could give no hints to anyone that would be interested in doing that because it was wrong," Hartman added.

The Mercury News reported she has lived alone in women's shelters and single-occupancy motels on the West Coast for a decade. She had been in a mental health program, and a judge found her to be suffering a "major mental illness."

KCAL-TV in Los Angeles said that she claims to be a Chicago native and a retired teacher, and that she had $4.25 to her name after being bailed out of jail Wednesday.